Our Roadschooling Family Adventures

May 22, 2017May 27, 2017

Blue Crabs & Old Bay! – May 6, 2017

Maybe you know…and maybe you don’t…but the reason we selected the timeframe of our trip is that Cliff’s son Tony’s wedding reception was today, May 6th. His wife Yuuki, having grown up in Annapolis, dreamed of having her reception at the Crab Deck here on Kent Island, MD, complete with friends and family, piles of Blue Crabs on the table, and canisters of Old Bay Seasoning nearby!

This was our first time eating a pile of crabs, and this Crab Deck harbored some mystique in our minds. I mean, it just doesn’t seem as intuitive as eating, let’s say, a drumstick, does it?

Our dining companions really had two options: quietly observe our floundering attempts (and thereby enjoying some free evening entertainment at our expense) or become willing tutors in this, our maiden crab-eating adventure. Thankfully, they all chose the latter! (Although I am sure that they still received at least some free entertainment at our expense!)

I wish I could provide you with some pictures of our meal, but let me tell you. It is SO MESSY to eat a pile of crabs! Truthfully, it may have made you lose your appetite, anyway. (This was the first time that I’ve ever told the kids that they didn’t have to clean up the table after our meal at a restaurant!)

But I DO have a picture of the newlyweds & their amazing cake!

We had a thoroughly enjoyable evening here! And I became an Old Bay believer. I don’t let many new things on board the motorhome, but this stuff’s getting a green card!

After the meal we took a stroll on the pier before heading to the car.

Earlier in the afternoon we visited the Chesapeake Bay Heritage Museum. It was small, but still interesting. I’ll just share three highlights.

First, a turtle with a mustache. I’m not joking. They named him Francois. We nicknamed him Jean-Francois Champollion (after the Frenchman who deciphered the Rosetta Stone,) mostly because it is just so stinkin’ fun to say it! Especially in reference to a mustached terrapin turtle!

Second, an art gallery highlighting local African American rivermen. What made the gallery so interesting is that each painting appeared with a story about the real men in it. One story communicated that the community at sea was colorblind, although when they stepped out of the boats and returned to shore they still lived in a segregated world.

Third, a beautiful marshy trail.

There’s something about letting little legs stretch for awhile, much more so when the trail is paved with seashell fragments!

We had to turn back before encountering the promised Osprey nest, though. We had a wedding reception to catch!

(P.S. Here’s a picture of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge we crossed a couple of days ago to get into Delaware.)